Moving In: Avon

May 17, 2009|By - Robin Stansbury

For Janice Calkins and Charlie Nelson, house-hunting was a series of hits and misses. What she liked, he didn't. What he adored, she wasn't in love with, until they came upon a contemporary home in Canton.

Although it was at the top of their $300,000 price range, both Calkins and Nelson loved the home, with its granite counters, stainless-steel appliances and large, wooded yard.

"It was the house of my dreams," Calkins said. "It had everything I saw in my head that I wanted in a home."

Their offer was accepted. But then a home inspection revealed trouble with the septic system that would have cost as much as $40,000 to repair. When the seller would not reduce the price, the couple walked away.

"We were extremely disappointed," Calkins said. "That was supposed to be our house. I saw myself living there."

What made the situation worse was that the couple already had spent almost two years looking for a new home, and this was the first one they both liked. Calkins was so upset that she stopped looking for a new home for a month.

"It was the right decision to walk away," said their agent, Susan Schenker of RE/MAX Advantage in Avon. "I told them, 'If I were you, I'd go find another house.' And they did."

The couple was set on buying a home in Canton or Avon, where they had family. They favored a ranch or raised-ranch style home, and they wanted at least an acre of land.

"Obviously Canton and Avon are pretty high-priced areas, so we knew it was going to take us a while," Calkins said. "Sometimes what we liked had no land. And sometimes the houses with land were too high-priced. We wanted it all."

They found it on Chevas Road in the four-bedroom home with slightly less than an acre of land. But stung by their previous experience, Calkins was reluctant even to take a look. She said it took three or four visits before she began to see the appeal of the home, which Nelson loved at first sight. She finally agreed with Nelson that this was the right house for them.

"It's got great bones. There is a beautiful front yard and two fireplaces," she said. "Now we can put our mark on it."

AVON FACTS:

* Population (2008): 17,641

* Median single-family home sales price (Jan.-Dec. 2008): $467,000

* Median condo sales price (Jan.-Dec. 2008): $240,000

* Number of single-family home sales (2007): 228

Less than $100,000: 0

$100,000 - $199,999: 7

$200,000 - $299,999: 31

$300,000 - $399,999: 52

$400,000 or more: 138

* Number of new housing permits in:

2007: 24

2006: 58

2005: 85

2004: 95

2003: 151

* Housing stock (2007): 7,118 units; 83 percent single-family

* Owner-occupied dwellings: 82 percent

* Housing stock age, pre-1950: 8 percent

SOURCES: Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development; Connecticut Economic Resource Center; The Warren Group